By IANS
New Delhi : Aid for the victims of a devastating ammunition depot fire in Jammu and Kashmir has been more than doubled to Rs.267 million, even as Defence Minister A.K. Antony is to visit the state Saturday to study the security scenario in the Valley.
The defence ministry had initially granted Rs.100 million for victims of the Aug 11 blaze at the Khandroo Field Ammunition Depot (FOD), some 65 km from Srinagar, in which 16 people were killed and 40 wounded.
With the hike, the amount requested by the state government has been “fully met”, a defence ministry release Thursday said.
“It is hoped that the state government will take urgent measures in disbursing the amount to the affected people,” the statement said.
Inquiries reveal that the Kashmir government has only disbursed Rs.40 million of the initial grant.
The Khandroo explosions had resulted in the entire complex catching fire, creating fear and panic among residents of 18 villages around the camp.
Intermittent explosions and the billowing smoke from the ammunition depot continued for more than a day.
Compensation of Rs.250,000 was initially announced for the families of each of those killed. Of this, Rs.150,000 was to be given by the army and Rs.100,000 by the state government.
Compensation ranging from Rs.150,000 to Rs.25,000 was to be paid to those who had lost their houses, depending on whether these were totally or partially destroyed and whether they were permanent or temporary structures.
All these amounts will now be proportionately revised upwards.
During the daylong visit to Srinagar, Antony will meet senior army and civilian officials to review the ground situation in the light of Himalayan passes through which infiltrators sneak into the Valley closing due to heavy winter snow.
Depending on the inputs the minister receives, a decision could be taken on the demand by Kashmir’s political parties to reduce the number of Indian Army troops in the state.
A report on this issue by a committee headed by former defence secretary Shekhar Dutt had been submitted to Antony earlier this year.
“This report is now with the government,” an official said Thursday, declining to elaborate.
Antony has often said he would go by the recommendations of the army and the security forces before taking a decision on troop reduction.
The army has been equally insistent that the time was not ripe for such a move, even as there have been some minor “corrections” in force levels.
Antony will also inaugurate the silver jubilee celebrations of the Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports (JIMWS) at Pahalgam and will attend the executive council and general body meetings of the institute.
Set up in October 1983, JIMWS imparts theoretical and practical training in mountaineering and rock climbing techniques. It also encourages and imparts training in winter sports.